Afternoon Out

Beckett Archibald Graves | appearance

Delilah was taking a rare afternoon off from the hospital. Admittedly, she had already put in over forty hours for the week. This morning the witch had set a series of long stewing potions up in self heating cauldrons to the lowest heat setting. They would need to slow brew all day and overnight and even into the following day. That left nothing to do at the hospital. 

She'd sent an owl to Uncle Beck to draw him away from the Ministry to go check on his team. The pair had been making trips to Tutshill for years. She loved going with him and the man had always spoiled her as she had come along a number of years before his own children. His former wife had doted on her as well, but even as a child Delilah could tell that the woman was seeking to use her as a pawn to influence Beckett to have children of his own. As such, Lila really never liked the woman and much prefers wife number two.

"Uncleeeee-" the brunette's flowery soprano called as she sashayed into his office. She had not bothered to give time for the man's secretary to announce her. "I do hope you haven't forgotten our afternoon plans already." It had only been a few hours since the man had agreed to him, but she knew he was prone to focus on his work, something she would never fault him for. Much as she admired her mother for her drive, she felt very much the same about Beckett's dedication to his vocation.

AFTERNOON OUT

OUTFIT

After the European Cup came to an end, his office wouldn't have nearly as much work to contend with. For a little while, anyhow. The World Cup matches would start up eventually, and having two teams make the cut was an impressive feat. Everyone had known that England was going to do well, but it had been Scotland that had truly been the surprise. They'd had quite the turn around, and he was sure that they were glad to move onto the next round this year. This was when it really mattered, after all. The qualifying matches were always fun to watch, but it wasn't anything like the matches that would happen this year. They were getting closer and closer to the end. He was looking forward to seeing what would happen, but he needed to focus on one task at a time. The World Cup's first match wasn't until June. The European Cup was happening now. That was where his focus was.

The semi-finals would be beginning soon. By the eleventh of this month, it would all be over too. The teams that had made the cut were unsurprising to him. There were few people that knew more about all of the league teams than the people in this office, so he was well aware of the Falcons' strengths, and obviously he was well aware of how well the Tornados were doing. Beck also kept track of teams in the rest of Europe. That wasn't all that hard to do in his position, and there were also more than a few Quidditch magazines that kept up with all of it quite well. He knew who the competition was, he knew what teams had the best chance to take home the Cup. The Tornados were amongst that grouping. Them winning would not be a surprise. But he knew that Amsterdam United had finished the season undefeated, for the second year in a row. They were a force to be reckoned with. Anyone that kept up with Quidditch knew how good that particular team was.

Beckett knew that the Dortmund Dodgers had had a good season as well, but he also knew that one of their chasers had taken a pretty hard hit from a bludger in their match against St. Anne's Grace. They had only won by some quick thinking from their seeker, because they had been down a hundred points. They were close to losing the match after that hit. From what he heard, multiple bones had been broken. Yes, that was nothing that magic couldn't fix, but still. He was likely to not be in top conditions during their next match. Then there was the Norse Vikings. He knew that that would be a tough match. That was the Tornados' next pair-up, that was the match that would get them to the finals. But that team was damn good, and he knew it. Flint would have to really make sure that they were all ready. He didn't want to have to deal with Liv if they lost. Enough china had been broken when the Falcons had won the League Cup.

Frankly, he didn't think the rest of their china would survive them losing the European Cup too. He thought that Liv would really want to fire someone after that, which was why it was good that the Tornados were in his name, not hers, or plenty of people would just be impulsively sacked when Liv was pissed off. Beckett looked up from the memo he'd gotten from the Norse ministry, in time to see Delilah coming into his office. He glanced at his watch at her words, then looked back to her. "No, 'course not. Just lost track of time." He said with a grin, before setting aside the memo. It was something that could be easily dealt with the next day. It was just involving security for the next match, seeing as the Tornados would be on foreign soil. It could wait. As long as it was sorted out by the game, they would be all right. He got to his feet to kiss his niece's cheek in greeting. "How was work?" He thought that she'd said she'd been at the hospital this morning, at least.

There were few who had the complete lack of athletic ability Delilah possessed who were so utterly obsessed with Quidditch. She could fly well enough, but was hopeless at catching or throwing a Quaffle or swinging a beater’s bat. It broke her heart truly that she had never been able to play the sport she loved so much. A girl of her dedication with her love of the game could have been a fierce competitor. There surely would have been done who gave more time or effort. But, alas, the fates had not held such a future for her…and she was happy in her life as it was. Brewing was beautiful in its own right. She created things day in and day out that were far greater and more powerful than simply the sum of their parts. She was happy and fulfilled by her work…

But oh, how grand it would have been to wear one of those Tornadoes jerseys.

More than once she had commiserated with her Aunt Liv over the future that could have been….The other woman was no more an athlete than Lilah and had just as much love for the sport. The two of them knew stats and players and formations—they got fired up at matches and—at least, Lilah had on more than one occasion yelled some very unladylike things at the referees calling the matches. Who knew that being blind was a pre-requisite for such a vocation?! One would not think so, but experience had made Delilah sure it was the truth.

The witch was a unique blend of workaholic and Quidditch fanatic that made it very hard for her to actually find someone to be in a romantic relationship with. She had a few flings here and there, but no one really held her attention for very long. People who seemed to find her work interesting rarely had any interest in the sport that occupied her time outside the hospital---and those she met who shared her love the game were less often inclined to academic pursuits. She had rather accepted she would be forever alone. It wasn’t that bad. She was happy with her cauldrons. They could be counted on and she found peace and fulfillment in her work with them—and at the hospital. It was good to have a purposeful employment that fulfilled such a real and quantifiable need in society. She would never suffer for work. There would always be a job for her, at this hospital or at another or simply working on her own.

That had mattered to her in choosing a vocation. She wanted something reliable in a growing field, as well as something she could enjoy. Potioneering had always been her destiny. Despite the Wenlock wizarding housing business or her uncle’s Quidditch team, she had wanted to take her own path. She needed her own success—it brought her joy in life. Career was something she valued, over having her own family or other pursuits. This was what came first to Lilah. But she still made time for family (and for Quidditch---combining both anytime she could). She might never lay eyes on her brother, but she spent time with her father and her aunt and uncle. Liv and Beck were a bit like a second set of parents to her. She adored them. Liv was so much better than the wife that need not be named. Not that Delilah was judging or anything, but seriously—what kind of woman is a lingerie designer and still loses her man to another woman? Not that shagging is all it takes to hold a man’s interest, but it goes a damn long way at it.

Delilah did not even think of Eliza anymore. Liv was Beck’s wife and even though that wasn’t as it had always been, it kind of was in the girl’s mind. All the memories she had of Eliza were tinted with mild animosity. Beck had always loved Delilah and spoiled her and a part of her thought that Eliza had always been jealous of that. Or at the very least jealous that Beckett would love his brother’s child, but they still had none of their own. Delilah had never asked about this and wouldn’t, but obviously something had to be having been done to prevent Eliza from falling pregnant, unless she was incapable of doing so. Beckett had no problem knocking up Aunt Liv on more than one occasion. So, yeah, he wasn’t the hold up (unless he intentionally was choosing to be). Thank Merlin, whatever kept them from having children did, though, because having to deal with Eliza at Christmas would be bloody terrible.

It would have been way worse than being at the Ministry—which Delilah was not really a fan of. She had never liked the place—it felt too imbued with lies and bullshit for her tastes. It wasn’t like there were no politics at St. M’s—there were plenty—but it was different somehow. It didn’t feel as heavy. At the hospital, it felt, for the most part, like everyone was really there to do what they could to help the world. She never got that feeling at the Ministry. In the Atrium and walking the long elaborate hallways of the MoM, Delilah always had the distinct feeling that the majority of the people employed there were doing what they could to help themselves and theirs, the rest of the world be damned. She could have done it, too, if she had needed to pursue work her—and she would have flourished, and done so with no burden of guilt. She had very flexible morals and a very select few solidly held points of ethics. Her moral code adapted to her situation and to further her own interests. Perhaps she got that from her family.

How many shameful or unspeakable things had her aunt and uncle done to get where they were now? One did not become Head of a department without climbing over the backs of others from time to time. Lilah was proud, though, of Beckett. Whatever he had done to get where he was, he was Head of a Ministry department. Walking into his office, one was surely impressed with the lavish furnishings and great expanse of space. Marks of his success were evident and easily appreciated. Plus, it was good for her. Any game she wanted to see, a sweet little owl to Uncle Beck got her in. She didn’t mind abusing the system for her own good. Everyone else did, so why wouldn’t she?!

Today, she wanted nothing beyond the company of her uncle, though. She needed no favor. She just wanted to see the team. She was beyond excited about the European Cup. It had been a really hard to process the loss to the Falcons. She had really believed that the League Cup was going to be theirs. It should have been!! Next year! Next year, for sure!

The grin she received from Beckett was met with a radiant smile of her own. She did not really think he would have forgotten her—and could utterly sympathize with his situation. ”It is incredibly easy to do. I understand completely. I swear every day I get a bit older and the hours move a bit faster. This was not how I had understood the theory of time relativity to work.” Delilah was not always chatty. She could barely hold interest in a conversation with most people. But her family—they were different. With them, she could ramble for hours. She knew they would listen to her and always have interesting things to say back. She didn’t expect Beckett to delve into a theoretical discussion like her mother would have, but that hadn’t been her intention when her words. She had been joking—and that was evident in the jovial tone with which she spoke.

To be asked about her day was nice. She had no one in her life that she came home to that would do that on a regular basis, so it was something different and special to her still. The rarity of such a question did not bother the witch, but it made her respond in a way that someone used to it would probably not. Instead of a simple ‘oh-it was fine’, when Delilah was asked about her day or about her work, she gave a real answer. ”Quite productive—which is always pleasant. I will probably pop back by after we get back. I’ve let a slew of potions on to brew overnight. They don’t require constant oversight, but you know me, I still have to baby them anyway.” A tinkle of laughter rang out around the room and she shrugged her shoulders slightly. "I am the only pharmacist employed full-time at the hospital at the moment. The worthless one I complained about so much, if you recall, he’s gone now—reassigned to a job more fitting his capabilities compliments of the Ministry…but the other witch who mentored me took off to France for some job for her husband. I did not love her, but she was at least competent. Her loss has made for a lot of work for me. Not that I mind, of course, but still—they have some of the more trustworthy healers--the trainers mostly--covering potion dispensing on my off hours, but I’m handling all the brewing myself.”

Langdon had always been the one that had his act together. He was his younger brother, and yet he was the one that had found the woman that he had loved and had gotten married. He’d had Delilah when Beckett was still stuck with Eliza--before Olivia had even been in the picture. But he had never felt like his brother had something that he didn’t… or something that he wanted, even. With Eliza, the idea of kids had been something that he’d never even considered. He hadn’t wanted them. Hadn’t even crossed his mind. His former wife had known that their alliance was a political one. He had wanted a powerful position in the Ministry. He had wanted to be a department head, and that was not an easy feat. He had needed a wife that knew how to play the game.

And Eliza had known how to do that. She had fit the bill. She had known that was all that it was, at the start of it anyway. Sometimes he did wonder if things had changed for her somewhere along the line. Maybe it had. He admittedly hadn’t paid all that much attention to her. It wasn’t as if he was unkind to her or anything of the sort. Beckett had done his best by her, in the beginning. He came home every night on time. They had dinner together--he did the dishes because she was the one that had cooked. They talked about whatever she wanted… something that she was designing, what had happened during his day, what events were coming up. It had been civil and they had worked well together.

Her feelings were just not something that he had been all that privy to. If her feelings had started to change, then he hadn’t noticed it. Maybe her wanting a child so badly had been a tell that he just hadn’t realized. Maybe it hadn’t been political and she had just wanted a baby with him. Beckett didn’t know. He just knew that he’d had no interest in having any kids. His focus had been on his career, and she was meant to know that. She had wanted him to have that power as much as he had; she had wanted to be the wife of a department head, not the wife of some employee in the magical games and sports department. She wanted to be invited to parties, and for her husband to have power.

Children hadn’t needed to be a part of it, so maybe that had meant something and he just hadn’t realized it. Maybe she had wanted more, but he had never entertained the discussions. There were times when he had to admit that he didn’t even trust her and thought there was a chance that she would just get pregnant anyhow. That she would stop taking the potion and not tell him, and wait until she was sure she was pregnant to let him know that she’d accidentally missed a dose, or something. That had been a whole other situation for him to have to worry about, which had been more than a little bit irritating to deal with. But he had made sure that it never happened.

He didn’t know if that was why she was nearly always intolerable when they were around Langdon and his family. She had tried to put on a fake smile but she had always come off… more than a little rude around them. It might have been because they had something that she wanted that he would not give her. It might have been because she had to see him around Langdon’s kids and wonder why he didn’t want his own. And he couldn’t explain it. He didn’t know why he hadn’t wanted kids with her. He just hadn’t. He couldn’t even say it was something like fate, knowing that Liv would come along and that she was the one that he would want kids with. He wasn’t sure that was it at all. He just hadn’t wanted kids with her.

But everything had worked out the way that it should have went he had finally left Eliza, when he had finally made things right with Liv. Now they did have kids of their own and he thought that their lives were pretty close to perfect. His wife wouldn’t drop wanting another baby, but if that was their biggest problem, then he thought that he could handle it. He’d let her bring up any point that she wanted, because he did not think that his mind was going to change anytime soon. He thought three kids were fine, especially since they were so close to Delilah and Owen--and considering LJ was sort of like another son to Liv. He didn’t quite get why she wanted another, but he wasn’t going to worry about that today.

It wasn’t something that needed his focus. Today, his afternoon was set aside for his niece and he was glad that she had been able to pull herself away from work and remember--otherwise he admittedly might have kept working and wouldn’t have even realized what time it was. Thankfully, he did think he’d told his assistant about the plans, so she likely would have interrupted him if he did get distracted by work. “Now that’s just unkind. If you’re getting older then I have to be completely ancient by now.” He chuckled. But it was something that he understood all too well. Time seemed to go by faster the busier that he was too, and before he knew it the day would be over and he felt like he still had a lot more work to do.

Beckett had always been close to his niece. He was glad to see that she had found something that she enjoyed--he was looking forward to Cal graduating and doing the same. Seeing his children accomplishing what they wanted to do with their lives was something that he hadn’t yet gotten to experience, obviously, but in some ways he did think that he got to experience that with Delilah and Owen. They might not be his children but he had still seen them grow up and he liked to see how much they had accomplished--and to see that they were happy. It did seem that Delilah liked working for St. Mungo’s a lot, and he knew that she loved Quidditch. Apart from that, he had to admit that he didn’t know much about friends or her dating life--he thought those kinds of conversations might just be saved for Liv or her own mother.

“Of course.” He shook his head. He was sure that the potions that she brewed had been done perfectly and would be just fine overnight but he wouldn’t be surprised if she stayed a little later than usual to make sure that they were all right. “Even though I’m sure they would be perfectly fine without being checked on at all.” Beckett nodded as his niece continued. It was funny to think that he cared very little about… well… people that he didn’t care about specifically, but he knew the name of the worthless wizard that his niece had worked with and a dozen slights that she had against him, and he thought that he could even pull from his mind the name of the wizard that the witch that had mentored Delilah had apparently gone to France with. “That’s a lot--are they working on filling the positions? And at the very least, they should be giving you a raise or paying you overtime. Have you talked to them about that?” If she was doing the work of multiple people, then she should at least be paid accordingly because that was more than she should be doing, so she had to be at the hospital hours more than the allotted hours that she had.